One of the first
nineteenth-century Viennese music periodicals, the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung, mit
besonderer Rüksicht auf den österreichischen Kaiserstadt [AMO] was the successor to the
Wiener allgemeine musikalische Zeitung (1813). The AMOcontributed to
developing great interest in music and musical life, and fostered the creation of the
Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde. Three writers are identified as editors-in-chief of the
journal: the brothers Joseph (a dramatist and librettist) and Ignaz (a pupil of Mozart and
friend of Beethoven) von Seyfried, and Friedrich August Kanne (a music teacher and
composer).

A major portion of each issue is devoted to reviews of contemporary operatic
performances and concerts. The most extensively discussed composers are Beethoven and
Rossini. Reviews of new compositions often contained analyses of works both by established
composers such as Beethoven and by lesser-known Viennese musicians. Contributors included
the composer and conductor Ignaz von Mosel, the theorist Gottfried Weber, and Christian
Friedrich Michaelis, a professor of metaphysics and aesthetics at the university in
Leipzig. Regular correspondents report from Italian cities (Venice, Milan and Bologna),
Munich and Paris.

Eduard Hanslick had high regard for the journal and its predecessor, and,
François-Joseph Fétis stated that the journals articles were written with both
knowledge and talent.